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Introduction I should have known better than to have gone on vacation. My family and I planned a great vacation to Mexico. Everything was set - or so I thought. After getting up at 4:30 in the morning, we packed ourselves and our things into two cars and headed to the airport. The trouble is, our reservations had been made for the wrong week. We didn't find that out until we tried to check in for the flight. Well, we made to Mexico two days later - but maybe we should have left well enough alone. After a few days I got royally sick - so much so that I had to go to the doctor, missed work, and was sick as a dog for a week. As if that wasn't enough - on the way back from the airport I found out that one of our car's transmissions had gone out to the tune of $2,400! Oy Vey! Doesn't it seem like when one thing goes wrong - everything goes wrong? I was in the midst of a trial. The trouble with trials is that they're so much of a trial! Joke: While sports fishing off Melbourne Beach, a tourist capsized his boat. He could swim, but his fear of alligators kept him clinging to the overturned craft. Spotting and old beachcomber standing on the shore, the tourist shouted, "Are there any gators around here?!" "Naw," the man hollered back, "they ain't been around for years!" "Feeling safe, the tourist started swimming leisurely toward the shore. About halfway there he asked the guy, "How'd you get rid of the gators?" "We didn't do nothin'," the beach bum said. "The sharks got 'em." If you ever feel like you escaped the gators only to get eaten by the sharks - then you know that a trial is like. Today we begin the book of James - written by a man who understood trials - not just from experiencing them, but from seeing their true purpose and the positive effect on his life. James shares that wisdom with us - then challenges us to apply it to all areas of our lives. Overview of James o Most likely written by the Lord's brother o Could be the earliest book of the New Testament o Not written to a specific church o Themes: Suffering Its real purpose and its benefit Sin True origins - internal & external Wisdom What it is and how to get it Community Mutual Support Favoritism True Religion Overall theme: FAITH Vs 1 I like how James starts out: "James - a servant" Some think he used the term to show his authority - but I think he did it for another reason. The word is "dulos" which means servant of choice. James is about to talk about our place - our place with our fellow Christians, with the "down and out" of the world - and he wants to show that he considers himself not a high dude in the church, but a servant - with the same obligations to serve as anyone else. This is the essence of "servant-leadership" - and should be the model for anyone who desires a position in the church - you don't "move up the ladder" you move "down to the level of a servant" You can be that way in your family or job as well. Next, James moves right into the heart of the matter - and I like how James doesn't waste words on lots of philosophical arguments - he gets down to what matters to us - everyday living. And everyday living means facing everyday trials. Vs 2 - 4 Overall this gives us a new perspective on how to face problems. Our gut reaction is to panic, worry, fret, get angry, worry some more, cry out to God to get us out of the mess, then as soon as its over we forget the problem ever happened - or we fret continually that we're going to round the next corner and run into more trouble. James words on handling problems come under three areas: 1 - How to view trials when they are happening 2 - How to find the fruit of trials after they are finished 3 - How to hold on for the better fruit patience brings through trials What do we do when problems come? o Panic o Grumble o Despair o Turn away o Work it out ourselves o Sin Viewing Trials Differently James wants to re-orient us to problem solving. "face trials of all kinds" face - is a Greek word that means "fall into something that is all around you." of all kinds means: motley - diverse, various. The idea here is that : 1) You don't control when a trial happens 2) You don't control the type of trial - they come in all shapes and sizes We'll to what a "trial" is in a minute. "Consider" comes from a Greek word that means: "to lead or command with official authority." Do you know born leaders - you know, the ones at the playground who determine what game is played, who the captain is and what the rules are. You can be that way with your trials - you can be in control instead of the trial. But you have to take control. You have to take action or the trial will act on you to discourage you. So step 1 is: Take Command "Consider it pure joy" Pure - means: all, any, every - the whole Joy here is: "a calm delight." It's not just that we need to take command of our trials, but we need to command them to be all joy. So step 2 is: Experience Joy This seems totally silly when you first think about it - trials by definition are not joyful. You get sick, you get fired, you get into an accident, you get into trouble - whatever - not the kind of "jump for joy" kind of experience. As a Christian, you can have joy in every circumstance because you know something - you don't just know it you really know it. "Knowing" It's "to know absolutely" - to know something without a shadow of a doubt. What is it that you know that can carry you through a trial with calm delight? It's the end product - "the trying of your faith produces" something. And it is "experimental" knowledge - knowledge from experience - from actually going through things. This kind of knowledge doesn't come by theory, only by practice. For instance - when you know something beforehand it changes how you act. Example: Denise and buying furniture. Because she had saved up the money and knew it was there in the bank, it gave her great freedom and confidence in the choices and deals she made. So step 3 is: Know the end from the beginning The product is: perseverance. Perseverance: cheerful or hopeful endurance (comes from: to stay under) Not just endurance - but a type of endurance that has cheer and hope in it. So Step 4 is: Patience is more than waiting for the next trial This excites me but also puzzles me. Sure I want to be this way - but how is it possible? If I've lost my job or got into an auto wreck or am being persecuted at work - how can I possibly have this cheeriness as the end product of my trial? Let's go back and look at the character and process of a trial as hinted at right here. The Trial We have two words in these verses - "trials" and "testing" Trials: assay, examine, scrutinize (peirasmos) Testing - means: "trustworthy" (dokimion) Dokimion a Greek word that is very close to one that means: the crucible. Let me picture it for you this way: You are what the silversmith refers to as ore - containing silver, but also a variety of other elements. God, the great silversmith, sets your life into a crucible - a hot pot of various trials. When the heat comes on the bad stuff starts to bubble up to the surface - your old habits and old patterns come out - anger, frustration, whatever. The desire of the silversmith then is to draw across the surface and pull off that dross - again and again - until he sees his face clearly reflected in the surface of the molten metal - now pure silver. So too God - if we let Him - draws off our bad habits until all that is left is His pure righteousness. Why calm delight? Because we know that somehow, somewhere, sometime - God will come through and solve the problem. The patience is worked in as we realize panic or anything else won't solve it - only faithful assurance and reliance on God. God wants to teach us patience because we want it out way - God makes it so we only do it His way. The Perfect Work You mean, there's more? Yes - let this perseverance go on to make more changes - to be "perfect and complete" - two synonyms. "Perfect Soundness" Let it have its perfect work: example: antibiotics. You start taking them and you feel better so you stop - but if you don't take the whole course then the disease will come back. We need to let God have a complete work - open yourself up to it, bring it on - as painful as it is - because it is worth it in the end - the changes and healing He does in our lives are worth the extra pain. How does this work? There's usually a point in every trial where you can see the end - the light - the solution. At that point you can wipe your brow, calm your heart, pick yourself up and say: "its almost over." But what if you at that point really pressed into God and said: now that I'm through the hard part, what do You really want to teach me. Because, it's not really about the trial - it's about you and God. Being "mature" denotes the idea of a goal or "rightful purpose" - the thing here is that God needs to be a part of the process of forming our character. God wants to be a part of forming our complete character into someone He can use - not perfection in an absolute manner - but a person yielded to His presence and pressure in their lives. Rom 5:3-5 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see - its about changing us - endurance, character, hope. - hope that we can bank on - hope we can use. So Step 5 is: Character comes from trouble - not ease James makes a switch in the next three verses - but it relates to how the process of molding our character through trials happens. Verses 5 - 8 Basically what James is saying here is that we need wisdom to know how to handle trials - that wisdom needs to come from God - and we need to trust that He will and does answer. There is a commitment on our parts needed - because doubt leads to inaction - We need to pray and we need to believe that God answers those prayers for wisdom. Otherwise the enemy and our own evil impulses will drive us away from God working through our difficulties. We must keep our eye on the prize - on the goal - on the shore ahead away from the stormy sea. If we don't we will be like Peter who started out walking on water but took his eyes off Jesus and sank as a result. Conclusion Why did James begin the book this way? Because trials aren't always obvious. Just because it doesn't seem like a trial doesn't mean you aren't being tested. In the coming chapters we will see many opportunities for self reflection on tests the Lord brings to us - and opportunities to stretch our character and see if we are ready to go to the next level with the Lord. A couple of points in closing 1st let's review our steps in experiencing trials: 1. Take Command 2. Experience Joy 3. Know the end from the beginning 4. Patience is more than just waiting for the next trial 5. Character comes in times of trouble, not periods of ease o Trials aren't to be feared but embraced o God uses what He does through our troubles to bring comfort to others o Remember above all: It's not about the trial - its about you and the Lord Finally - look at verse 12: a crown awaits us if we persevere. God has a good end waiting. |
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